Jazzfest Berlin 2025: Amalie Dahl // Moabit Imaginarium // Pat Thomas // Fire! Orchestra

On its 2024 album “Står op Med Solen” Dahl elided any divide between gutbucket expression and sophisticated melodic-harmonic execution – she does not deal in half-measures. While Dahl can unleash serious free jazz fury fueled by explosive overblowing, impressive extended technique and slashing vitality, she also maintains an imaginative lyric sensibility. Such polarities are not dichotomies in Dahl’s hands, but expressions of range, nuance and curiosity.


Her arrangements for the core quintet convey an orchestral sensibility well-suited for this versatile lineup. She has formed such a strong rapport with trumpeter Oscar Andreas Haug, trombonist Jørgen Bjelkerud, bassist Nicolas Leirtrø and drummer Veslemøy Narvesen that expanding her palette with a much larger ensemble seems like a given. Dahl presents a new programme, fortifying the lineup with seven additional players including the protean rhythm section of bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and pianist Lisa Ullén.


Line-up

• Amalie Dahl – saxophone, composition 
  
• Oscar Andreas Haug – trumpet 
  
• Jørgen Bjelkerud – trombone 
  
• Sofia Salvo – baritone saxophone 
  
• Henriette Eilertsen – flute   
  
• Ida Løvli Hidle – accordion      
  
• Lisa Ullén – piano   
  
• Anna Ueland – synthesizer    
  
• Paal Nilssen-Love – drums 
  
• Ingebrigt Håker Flaten – double bass 
  
• Nicolas Leirtrø – double bass 
  
• Veslemøy Narvesen – drums
  

With the friendly support of the Norwegian Embassy Berlin



20:00

• Moabit Imaginarium
  
• (DE, FR, SE, SN and others)
  
• World premiere
  

Moabit Imaginarium is a musical encounter project aimed at building bridges among different musicians and their respective artistic scenes. Professional musicians from the quarter of Moabit with diverse musical backgrounds will gather to experiment with representatives of the Berlin jazz scene and develop a transcultural repertoire. The newly formed ensemble offers a total of ten artists the time and space for exchange, (re)discoveries and artistic research.


Line-up

• Musicians from Berlin-Moabit (N.N.)
  
• Joel Grip – double bass
  
• Simon Sieger – various instruments
  
• Michael Griener – drums
  
• Assane Seck – tama, djembe, sabar
  
• Pat Thomas Solo
  

(GB)

Although he’s been a dynamic, essential figure on the British improvised music scene for decades – maintaining close relationships with bygone masters like Lol Coxhill and Derek Bailey – pianist Pat Thomas only started making waves around the world as a member of أحمد [Ahmed], the acclaimed improvising quartet that’s devoted to the music of bassist and composer Ahmed Abdul-Malik. The group played a fiery set at Jazzfest Berlin in 2021, and last year its mind-melting “Giant Beauty” was chosen as Album of the Year by The Wire. But there is much more to Thomas than one band, and his solo performances are among the most visceral, exciting and surprising listening experiences in the world. On his own, he truly unleashes the percussion element of the piano, whether pounding away at Afro-Cuban grooves, hammering dense clusters or Bach-like counterpoint.


His performances can go anywhere, so don’t be surprised if a version of Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll” follows an ivory-crashing onslaught. Last year Thomas advanced his studies into Arabic history with the solo album “The Solar Model of Ibn Al-Shatir”, forging pieces in homage to the discoveries of folks such as the titular 14th-century mathematician. It’s impossible to predict what Thomas will unleash when he sits at the piano tonight, but it’s safe to say that it will prove riveting no matter what.



Line-up

• Pat Thomas – piano 
  

21:30

• Fire! Orchestra: “Words”
  
• (BE, BR, CA, DE, DK, FR, GB, NO, SE)
  
• World premiere
  

The austere Swedish trio Fire! is one of reedist Mats Gustafsson’s best known projects, a stripped down model of groove hypnosis and free blowing. The leader borrowed its name when he formed this remarkable big band in 2013, and while there are some of the same cycling patterns at work – none more spellbinding than the basslines of Johan Berthling, a member of both units – the lush arrangements, pop-informed melodies and slow motion grandeur of Fire! Orchestra offers something radically different. While Gustafsson is well-regarded for his visceral blowing, he’s also a student of many styles. In 2023 the project released the lengthy suite “Echoes” rendered by a massive 40-member line-up who banded together to bring depth, grace and wild dynamic leaps to smoldering pop songs sung by the likes of Mariam Wallentin and David Sandström (a former member of Refused), not to exclude passages of bracing freedom.


Tonight Gustafsson presents an all-new line-up for Fire! Orchestra with the world premiere of an all-new programme called “Words”. The leader has always been a devoted ambassador, introducing exciting new players to the larger improvised music world, and this new roster builds on that practice. Cologne cellist Emily Wittbrodt, Berlin- and Toronto-based trumpeter Lina Allemano and the British turntablist Mariam Rezaei are among the new members, supported by vets like trombonist Mats Äleklint as well as saxophonists Anna Högberg and Mette Rasmussen.


Line-up

• Sofia Jernberg – voice
  
• Mariá Portugal – drums, voice
  
• Anna Lindal – violin
  
• Anna Neubert – violin
  
• Emily Wittbrodt – cello
  
• Mats Gustafsson – baritone saxophone, live electronics, conduction
  
• Mette Rasmussen – alto saxophone
  
• Anna Högberg – alto saxophone
  
• Adia Vanheerentals – tenor and soprano saxophone
  
• Mats Äleklint – trombone
  
• Heiða Karine Jóhannesdóttir Mobeck – tuba, electronics
  
• Tuva Olsson – trumpet
  
• Lina Allemano – trumpet
  
• Kit Downes – piano, keyboards
  
• Mariam Rezaei – turntables
  
• Julien Desprez – guitar, voice
  
• Johan Berthling – electric bass
  
• Mads Forsby – drums
  

With the friendly support of the Swedish Arts Council